Yuletide

[Neely]

The juice of ripe, bursting, blood red holly berries

Frimp from Zenvodunista! Who kindly sent me this sans charge, just because. Feel the love Zen, you rock my world!

In the bottle: cinnamon with something sweet underneath.

Wet: cinnamon with berries, but not overly sweet berries. This isn't spicey cough syrup. This is very nice.

Dry down: cinnamon with berries, and this is drying down to a softer version of the wet phase. Unlike most scents with cinnamon, I am not amping it up to CINNAMON, like I usually do. I do smell like an expensive holiday candle. Not the cheap ones mind, with the lead in the wick. But a very nice candle. In fact, I smell like my soy Cranberry Spice candle that I bought and put out every year!

30 minutes: still lovely, still a holiday candle. I do like this on, despite said comparisson to a waxy pillar. It does get a ever so slight powder in the background. I know it would make a wonderful room scent. Slave 1 is right, you could keep switching them out for holiday fun all Yule round.

Conclusion: I do like this one very much. Wish I hadn't misunderstood and thought it was Midnight tonight the Yulies would be available. Oh well, maybe next year.

Rating 1-5 on my skin, this is a 4.5. Edited November 23, 2007 by Shollin

[LittleGreyKitten]

This smell is absolutely Christmas in a bottle, dead on. Cinnamon is not overwhelming but adds to the festive mix of the scent. Holly berries? I have no idea what that smells like. *Sniffs arm* OK, right now Holly smells like Jacob's Ladder, but I'm a girl Holly not the berry. (Sorry, stupid pun... my darling mother swears she didn't name me Holly for being born on the 12th day of Christmas, but I just don't believe her )

 

That said, I don't want it ON me. It would be fabulous in a room diffuser, or maybe even in a bath oil so you could smell it but not smell LIKE it. Nice to have tried but an imp is the perfect amount. As I would have guessed from the description.

 

I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5, though 5 for execution of idea; I just prefer perfume oils I can wear on me.

[karikazo]

This smells like mulled cider with spices on me, and it's delicious. Beautiful and not overwhelming, not too sticky-sweet. Great!

[sookster]

ultra spicy and clovey

this scent is nice but not a perfume i would want to wear........

[SeaMonkey]

*sighs*

 

Cinnamon. WHY does cinnamon hate me so? No cloves and cinnamon, just cinnamon.

[harmonyfb]

In the imp: Christmas!

 

Wet: Cloves. No berries, no fir trees, no nada. Cloves.

 

Dry: CLOVESCLOVESCLOVESCLOVES!!!!! (and teeeeensy bit of waxy smell.) And strong. Did I mention strong?

 

Well.

 

Not exactly my idea of a personal fragrance. I think I shall swap this one.

Edited January 25, 2006 by harmonyfb

[PirateMaggie]

This is wonderful. Crisp holly and fir, the way they smell in midwinter after a frost.

 

I had a massive headache and sick stomach from the fiasco I had with Rose Cross earlier in the day, so after a long shower and cup of peppermint tea, I searched my collection for a smell that would clear my head. This did it. It's refreshing and wonderful and smells absolutely clean and pure. I'd bought a bottle as a ritual scent--I work with the tree ogham and connect with holly in particular--and hadn't thought of actually wearing this, but I want to put it on cotton buds in my dresser drawers so that my clothes will smell like this.

 

I can't recommend this scent highly enough. It's the bottled version of seeing the Aurora Borealis while standing in the middle of a coniferous forest.

[GemmaCat]

In the bottle: Mmmm, sweet berries and a hint of sharp pine!

On my skin: Woah! Where did that delicious spice come from? This smells like really fruity mulled wine on my skin, with that gorgeous spice and pine undertone. It's delicious! This works beautifully as a winter perfume or room scent. Again, alas, my skin tends to gobble this up, but it's worth re-application.

 

I *thought* this was a keeper, but after wearing it for the day, it turned a little sour and sharp on me. Now, hours later, it's sweet berry goodness.

 

I really hate the sharp scent, but love the drydown, so I'm thinking I'll keep this as a room fragance and see what it's like then.

[storme]

In the imp: I didn't think I had any idea of what holly berries smelled like, but apparently I did, because my nose went 'oh that's holly alright'.

 

On me, wet: Very Christmassy, but I wouldn't say it's just holly berries. Spices and slightly hints of soap - and nutmeg, maybe?

 

On me, dry: Wow, but this fades fast. Faint spicy gingery nutmeggy clovey sweetness for a while, but then just a slightly plasticky aftersmell.

 

Verdict: I like this quite a lot, but it's similar enough to Laudanum on me(and fades much faster) that I don't think I need to keep it around.

[quinctia]

I got a decant of the 03 version of this scent in a Mystery Imp pack and I love it.

 

In the imp and while wet, I get some sharpness and some berry...I imagine that's a little bit of pine or something similar. But once it's on, all I get are berries -- not really tart or sugary, just sweet enough. I think it's something I will definitely put on.

 

I'd like to get some more, but I'm not sure if any of the following Yuletide blends were the same.

[eviltemptressdq]

This is definitely a deliciously CHRISTMAS scent. Weird to be sniffing it in May, but it made me happy nonetheless. It smelled similar to a Christmas Tree scented candle I had once… sort of spicy? But there is something a little sweet in the background, too.

 

I LOVED this, but not for May. Will wear all December long!

 

4 out of 5

[ajcj213499]

Ooooh!

 

I LOVE this! It has a bit of the pine note from my beloved Snow Moon with a bit of sweet spice added.

 

I really hope Beth makes this again this winter because I NEED a bottle of this.

 

I'm going to pack my imp away (it's not really a June scent), but I can see myself wearing this all the time once the weather gets colder.

 

A+++++

[edenssixthday]

Yuletide surprised me. I fully expected the “juice of ripe, bursting, blood red holly berries” per the Lab’s description, which is why I bought it. When I opened the bottle, all I smelled was holly greens. The sharp, pointy, thick green leaves of holly. Greenery like this and I don’t hardly ever get along. I thought for sure I’d be swapping the bottle. But I decided to try it, and the scent of holly leaves was definitely very strong, but I didn’t find it offensive in the least. At the point of full dry-down, the juicy scent of holly berries started to shine through, and at this point, I couldn’t stop sniffing my wrists. The whole scent is very unlike anything I would normally wear, and unlike anything I would normally like, but I am oddly attracted to it. It’s not something I’ll wear often, and I don’t believe I’ll ever use the whole bottle up, but it’s a scent I’ll enjoy wearing on occasion, especially around the holidays. I’m still a little confused as to why I like it, but the fact is, I do.

[HennaFairy]

bottle:

evergreen & berries

 

wet:

green green green with a hint of sugar and berries!

 

dry:

same! Wonderful scent for winter

 

overall: like it!

 

rating: 7/10

[sofiaviolet]

Mmm, berries! I am thinking cranberries; this smells a bit like my cranberry pills, but much more pleasant. I may try layering this with Talvikuu for the winter.

[supremegoddessofall]

2004 version:

 

In bottle: This is really hard to describe. It's sharp and chemical and berry all at the same time.

 

On me: Spicy! Closer to dragon's blood, but more cinnamon-y. Quite good. (Later) Still delicious, and tons of throw. I have no idea where the berries went, but they ain't in here...

[nancybridget]

Refreshing, sugary pine and citrus blend. Perhaps some mulberry. I'd prefer this as a home fragrance oil on a cold winter's eve.

[mtlaise]

While I do get the spicy reference others have mentioned, I don't get cinnamon at all... more like the spicyness of pine or fir. This does smell exactly like a fresh wreath with holly berries. Unfortunately, I personally do not want to smell like a wreath... This is a fun scent to try, and I'll likely use it as a room scent for the holidays.

[Em-]

Bright juicy spicy berries! This is the scent of holiday fruits - delightful, but something that is definitely tied to the season to me. I want to try it as a room scent but have not gotten around to it yet...

[themerrybaker]

Mmm. Yuletide.

 

There is Yule and there is Tide and fortunately this scent evokes the former.

 

My 2005 bottle is remiscent of balsa wood, cinnamon (briefly), and candlewax. This is a delicious winter scent that will be in heavy rotation this season.

[spicyelenore]

In bottle: Pine, sharp, green.

 

First on: Sharp, definitely a green piney smell. Wondering if this may be a room scent for me...

Drydown:Begins to warm up...now it's getting spicier...I think some of that cider-y smell is poking through.

Now I can smell the berries, and it's still very spicy and rich, with a bit of woodsy pine lurking in the background. Very intriguing.

 

Dry: I really like the spicy smell-almost cinnamon, but with some other stuff thrown in...wilder and woodsier. And definitely a berry smell, but not bright berries like summer. Definitely a winter berry. There's something it reminds me of that I can't put my finger on. Maybe it's mulling spices.

 

Yum.

[forspecial_plate]

Ripe berries and fir, crisp and lush at the same time. Ever so slightly spicy....and I mean just a *hint* of spicy on me, not any particular spice either. Frosty and chilly, too. Very, very pretty scent that I really like. To me, yeah...I get the candle resemblance....but I think it's better than 'just' a candle. I will definitely wear Yuletide this winter.

[jessu]

I have a bottle of 2004, don't remember how I got it though.

 

I pulled it out today because I was looking for a nice winter scent. This smells like the cinnamon scented pine cones you find in stores this time of year. Berry? What berry? This is nothing but SPICE SPICE SPICE.

 

I almost wonder if there's something wrong with the bottle, or is it me?

 

Whatever it is, it turns waxy and lasts all of half an hour, so I think this might have to go.

[MeiLin]

2005, well-aged obviously: Clove and cinnamon are duking it out in my cleavage.

[zankoku_zen]

2005

 

Wow.... this really does smell like Christmas! It's got that spicy berry/holly/spiced wine thing going on. And yes, smells like Christmas.

 

I'm not sure I want to smell like Xmas all the time... but when it's not December, it's got a nice nostalgic Xmas vibe to it.